The Turning: Book Two in The Medici Warrior Series

by Emily Bex

  He went back to his suite. Shannon was walking around the room, exploring the books on the shelf, looking at the easel and some of the stacked canvases. She turned around suddenly as he entered.

  “Oh! I was just looking at your things. Sorry. You have a lot of books. I'm surprised... I mean... I guess I don't think about a vampire reading books.”

  He set the bottles down and removed the corks, poured wine for both of them. He laughed at her comment. "What exactly do you think vampires do?" He handed her a glass of wine, sat on the sofa and patted the spot beside him.

  She took the glass from him and then sat beside him. Their knees were touching as they were turned to face each other. “Well, don't take offense, but I can't say I've ever spent a lot of time wondering about what vampires do. I only know what I see in movies.” She watched as that shy smile appeared.

  “Movies, okay then. Well, let's fast forward through some of that. Kate thought we wore capes and turned into bats. No to that. And no coffins, we don't sleep in coffins. We’re not the walking dead. Our hearts beat, and our hearts break. We live a lot like you.”

  She responded hesitantly, “Well... the blood thing.”

  “Yeah... the blood thing. That part is true.”

  She looked up at him with her large doe eyes. “Will you... uh…”

  “Shannon, why are you here?”

  She seemed taken aback, “What? What do you mean why am I here?”

  Luca’s voice was stern, “Am I just a curiosity to you?”

  “No! Oh god, no. Did I say something wrong? I'm just... I'm just trying to find my way here. I mean, I'm still trying to process this, but my feelings for you, they're real. I hope you know they're real.”

  He could feel her turmoil and her genuine emotion. He brushed her hair back from her face. “Shh, mia bellezza. I didn’t mean to offend. I’ve never been with a mortal. Shade says there are mortals who seek us out for mere curiosity. My feelings for you are too strong to just be your toy. I'm not here to play, mia bellezza. I want to understand what you expect. What you want.”

  “Luca, I have wanted to be with you since the moment I first saw you. And I knew the feeling was mutual. I could feel that from you. And then you didn't call me for days and it was making me crazy. I called Kate and she said how busy you were, but I thought that was just an excuse, that maybe I’d misread you. And then you called. And tonight. I can't remember when I've had this much fun with a man on a first date. I was immediately at ease with you. All I could think about as we were riding home, was how fast it went by and I didn't want to say goodbye to you. And then Kate told me... you're a vamp, you're all vamps. I realized it didn't matter to me, but that doesn't mean I don't have questions, or I know what to do next. It's just a little confusing, you know?”

  “Confusing, si. Very confusing, mia bellezza, for me as well. And I know much more of your world than you know of mine.” He finished off the glass of Midnight and set the glass down, then removed the glass from her hand. “But what Kate said, about being busy, you need to hear that. My time is not my own. Shade is my master. I work for him. It is not a ‘9 to 5’ as you mortals say. I live here, and for the rest of my life, I will live here, or wherever it is Shade chooses to live. I protect Kate when he is away, and I do other things for him when he’s home. I’m free when he says I’m free. Shade is a master, and a warrior, and I was raised a warrior in service to him. Shade puts Kate first, above all things. But I cannot give you that. My station in life dictates my allegiance to him first, and then to her. If you choose to be with me, then you must know this.” He took both her hands in his. “You’ll have my love, mia bellezza, my undying love. You’ll have my heart, and I’ll remain true to you and you alone. But my responsibilities as a vampire demand I place him first, and my first obligation to him is protecting her. If you come to me, you’ll always be first in my heart, but understand my obligation. It was why Shade was so reluctant to grant permission. The conflict. I need to know if you can live with that.”

  “Wow, Luca! That sounds like you’re a slave to him.”

  Luca shook his head. “No. It couldn’t be farther from it. Don’t confuse the meaning of the word master. Yes, he can command me, and I must show my allegiance to him, but he’s also like my father, my brother. To serve him is my honor. To be chosen as protector to his mate, chosen from all his warriors, it is the highest honor. And while I would die to protect you, I would also lay down my life for him, or for Kate. It’s essential you understand these things. This is what dictates my life. Don’t come to me, unless you can accept these terms, for they’re not negotiable.”

  Shannon asked, “Do you ever get to leave here without him?”

  “Of course, my free time is mine to do with as I please.”

  “If we were to... be together, stay together... would we ever be able to live together? Be married? Have children? I mean, I know that's really jumping ahead, but it sounds like its ‘all cards on the table’ time.”

  Luca took her hands. “There are many hurdles to overcome, but yes to all of your questions.”

  “Well then, it sounds to me like every mortal guy I ever dated. You have a job that takes up a lot of your time and your job comes first. Maybe a little more complicated than that, but I get it, I think.”

  “But can you live with it, mia bellezza?”

  She looked at him, with his dark hair and bronze skin, those hazel eyes, his chest smooth and muscled, his relaxed pose on the sofa, his voice deep and soothing. She recalled his laugh, his attentiveness, his touch, and his kiss... That kiss on the mall. She reached up and touched the necklace he placed around her neck earlier. She watched as his eyes followed her hand before returning to lock on hers. “I can live with it, Luca. If the pot of gold at rainbow’s end is you, then I can live with it.”

  Luca ran the back of his fingers across her sweet face and brushed back her hair. “It won’t be easy. Mortal and immortal. I’ve watched Shade and Kate every day. Their love is deep, and yet, they struggle, they fight. But in the end, they always find their way back to each other.”

  Shannon put her hand on his knee. “Because they have something worth fighting for.”

  “Si. They have something worth fighting for.”

  “Can we have that, Luca? You and me? Can we have something worth fighting for?”

  “Si, mia bellezza. I promise you a love worth fighting for.”

  Shannon leaned in to kiss him, and his arms opened to receive her. She felt his lips close around hers as she lay against his chest and he leaned back on the sofa. She felt his hands as they glided down her back. She felt his tongue as it probed her mouth. She slid her hands up his muscular arms and shoulders, and up his neck and into his hair. Gripping his hair tight in her hands as she slid her breasts across his bare chest, their skin separated by the sheer fabric of her gown. She heard him moan into her mouth. She sat upright suddenly and watched as his eyes snapped open and he looked at her in surprise. She pulled the gown over her head and tossed it to the floor. “I want to feel you. I want to feel your skin against mine.”

  He was looking at her bare breasts, her nipples pink and erect, and he heard the beast growl deep in his chest. He dropped his head back onto the sofa, taking a deep breath and fighting for control. He felt her straddle his hips as she laid her breasts against his bare chest and purred, “Much better.” She leaned over him and her hair fell forward like a curtain, and her perfume overwhelmed. Her mouth was on his again, her tongue deep in his mouth. He slid his hands to her hips and onto her ass as she started to grind her hips into his. He squeezed her ass hard, and the beast growled louder. Stop, you have to stop!

  He lifted her off him and sat her on the couch as he stood, all in one quick motion. He rubbed his hands across his face as he took a deep breath and he paced the floor. He looked at her, her mouth open, her hair hanging in her face.

  “What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

  Luca was panting, speaking between breaths,
“Not you. Me. We'll have to go slow, Shan.” He picked up her gown from the floor and handed it back to her. She looked puzzled, but took it from his hands and held it to cover her breasts.

  She felt confused. Go slow? “Wow... never had a man tell me that before.”

  Luca chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a new one for me too.” Pacing, he ran his hands through his hair. “My strength, I need to be careful, Shannon, and there is something else. At the core of me, I am more beast than human. When I’m not being controlled by emotions, by anger or passion... I can control the beast, I’m hardly aware of him. But when my emotions run strong, he takes over. As a warrior, I depend on him, his power and his strength help me to conquer and slay any opponent. I’ve only had sex with immortals, so if he emerges, they’re able to meet his strength. But a mortal…”

  Shannon looked at him slyly. “The beast? Kate told me I would meet the beast. She said I’d love him.”

  “What? Kate said you’d love the beast? What did she tell you?”

  “Nothing really, other than that. She said you would explain the beast, but not to worry because I would love him. So, explain the beast.”

  “Shannon, I don't want to fuck this up. I wanted you to get to know me before I ever exposed you to that. I don't want to scare you away, and I really don't want to hurt you.”

  “Oh, come on Luca, give me some credit. Do you like, turn into some kind of monster or something?”

  “Yeah, actually, I do.”

  She sat up straighter. “Really? Well, this just got interesting. Can you just bring him out?”

  “No, I can't just ‘bring him out,’” he answered in an exasperated tone.

  Shannon dropped the gown to the floor and stood up wearing only her thong panties. She slipped her thumbs into the side strings over each hip and did a slow rotation of her hips, pulling at the strings on the thong. “But I can tempt him out?”

  “Fuck! This is no joke, Shan.”

  She flipped her head back, tossing her hair, as she walked slowly toward him, inching the strings on the thong down her hips. “Oh, I'm not joking, Luca.”

  As she stood in front of him, she put both hands on his chest and did a slow hip swerving ‘drop it like it’s hot’ squat, dragging her hands down his chest, until her mouth was at the low-slung waist of those linen pants held in place by a drawstring. She took the string in her mouth and pulled it loose and watched as the linen pants dropped to the floor, around his feet. Talk about a beast!

  She was looking at the most glorious cock she had ever laid eyes on, and she had seen a few. Her hands glided down his thighs as she slid her mouth over his member and listened to his low, deep growling moan. She felt his hands slip into her hair as she took him deep into her throat. As she slid her mouth slowly up and down the long shaft of him, he gripped her hair tighter and pulled her head more forcefully into him, as she felt his hips thrust to meet the rhythm of her mouth. She slid her hands around to his ass and gripped him tightly. As she sank her nails into his skin, she heard a roar and she looked up at him, his cock still deep in her throat. Fuck! He has fangs! His fangs dripped hot saliva down on her and his eyes were glowing red. He is so fucking hot! He thought I would run from this?

  He untangled his hands from her hair and reached under her arms, lifting her and throwing her onto the bed. Luca saw the expression on her face move from shock to lust, as she smiled back at him, and said, "Oh baby... bring it!"

  Upstairs, Kate lay in Shade's arms, when they both heard the loud growl of the beast, as the house shuddered like the aftermath of the clap of loud thunder. Shade sat up quickly in the bed and started to swing his legs to the side, ready to bolt downstairs. Kate grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back down.

  "Relax, lover, a mortal girl is about to conquer another beast.”

  49

  Kate felt someone gently nudging her shoulder and woke to find Theresa leaning over her.

  “My lady, you asked me to wake you when Miss Shannon was up and about.”

  “Oh, yes... thank you, Theresa. What time is it?”

  “Almost 10 a.m.,” she answered as she left the room.

  Kate kissed Shade on the cheek as he remained deep in his death slumber, and slid from their bed. She pulled on jeans and a sweater and walked to the guest bedroom. She could tell Shannon never slept in that bed, but her clothes were scattered about. She caught her as she stepped from the bathroom, dressed and her make-up fresh. “Well, good morning, sunshine.”

  Shannon greeted her with a giant grin on her face. She looked at Kate and the only thing that came out of her mouth was, “Oh. My. God.”

  Kate started laughing at her. “Yeah...tell me about it. Or actually, you don't need to. I heard most of it firsthand.”

  Shannon issued a loud guffaw. “Is that... was that... normal? I mean, can I expect that every time we have sex? Holy Mother of God, will it be like that all the time? Or was that just because it was the first time? Kate... he was... we were... Oh. My. God.”

  Kate leaped across the bed, landing in a belly flop and she couldn’t stop laughing at her. “Oh, I think I can safely say it gets better.”

  “Better? No fucking way... I'm… I'm… I'm…” Shannon climbed across the bed and lay beside her. “No, seriously? Better? How is that even possible? Jesus Christ, no wonder I haven't seen you for six months.”

  Kate was still laughing at her. “Well, you did meet the beast. He will learn to control the beast as he has more experience. Shade gets really freaked out about the whole beast thing.”

  “Control the beast? Oh, I hope not. I loved the beast. But yeah, Luca seemed very worried about the beast as well. The beast didn’t appear every time we made love last night, just the first time.”

  “Oh, trust me, he’ll be back. But as best as I can understand, when the beast is out, they have to fight for control. In a battle with another vampire, they can let him go, let the beast rule, but with mortals… I don't know, Shade is always afraid I will be hurt by the beast. So, I take it you plan to see him again?”

  “Oh my gosh, yes. We talked a long while before... he seemed really serious about my intent. Isn't that a role reversal? I mean, I'm usually trying to figure out if a guy is just using me, but he wanted to make sure I wasn't there out of curiosity, that I wanted something more, something long-term.”

  “You're his first mortal. Actually, Shannon, you're his first relationship.”

  “First relationship? What do you mean? There's no way that guy was a virgin.”

  Kate laughed at her. “No, I don't mean it’s the first time he's had sex, I mean the first time... wow, how do I explain this? You know they feed right?”

  “Yeah, the blood thing. He acknowledged that, but we didn't really talk about it.”

  “Well, when they are not in a relationship, or not bound to a mate, they go to a breed of vampires called feeders. The feeding is very sexual, and they will typically have sex when they feed, so all of Luca's experience has been with feeders, which, according to Shade, is not unusual among warriors.”

  “So... almost like a hooker?”

  “They don't see it that way. Feeders are not looked down upon. It is just their role in the vampire hierarchy. But trust me, I had the same reaction. The point is, you are the first female, mortal or immortal, that Luca has been drawn to, or at least, drawn to enough to act on it, outside of the feeder community. Choosing a mortal is a big deal, especially for him. He and Shade are old-world vamps from Europe. They tend to stick to their kind and partnering with a mortal is pretty rare and not looked upon with much grace. Shade says it’s a more common practice here for the vamps in the States.”

  “Luca said Shade was his master. Does that mean Shade is the one who turned him?”

  “No, both Shade and Luca were born vamps, but Shade practically raised Luca. His parents died when he was young. There is this whole hierarchy in their world. You are pretty much born into your station in life. I'm still struggling to understand it. Shade is a m
aster because his father was a master... and royalty, which I still don't fully understand. But Shade is also a warrior. He trains other warriors. Even though vamps are born to be warriors, they still go through all kinds of training. Then they have this level I call 'worker bees’. The people like Theresa and Gi and Reynaldo. But they are everywhere... doctors, lawyers, not just servants.”

  “So, any children you have with Shade will be masters?”

  “Yes, the males anyway, I think that's how it works. Oh, and speaking of children, be sure you are on birth control. I really screwed up. I just assumed all vamps came from mortals who had been turned. I didn't know they were also born.”

  “What do you mean, you screwed up?”

  “I got pregnant. But, apparently, pregnancies that are the result of mortal and immortal pairings are very high risk. It was a nightmare. At first, Shade was really angry with me that I had gotten pregnant. But then he really wanted the baby. We both wanted the baby. We tried really hard to make it work, to try to keep the baby, but... in the end...”

  “Oh my god. When did this happen? Oh, Kate, I'm so sorry.”

  “It was about three months ago and thank you for caring. You're the first mortal that I've even told that to.” Shannon grabbed Kate in a big hug.

  “Oh, good Lord! Look at the time. I told Luca I was getting dressed and then coming back down, and now we've been up here just gabbing away. Help me shove all my stuff back in my suitcase and come downstairs with me.”

  They slid off the bed together, gathered her scattered clothes and jammed them into the suitcase and set it by the door. Kate asked, “Hungry?”

  Shannon grabbed her stomach. “Yes. I'm starving. Does anyone in the house ever eat?”

  Kate laughed, “Only me, but I have a full-time chef at my disposal, so come on, I'll have him fix us a big brunch.”

  They headed down the stairs together. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Luca was just coming out of his room. His eyes lit up when he saw Shannon. Kate extended him an invite. “Luca, come sit with us in the kitchen. I'm going to have Reynaldo fix us something.”